Type (designation)
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The word "type" followed by a number is a common way to name a weapon or product in a production series, similar in meaning to "
mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...
". "Type" was used extensively by the Japanese and Chinese militaries beginning in the 1920s, and is still in current use by the militaries of both nations. The United Kingdom uses a type number system for much of their military equipment. Many other nations use the word "type" to designate products in a series.


Japan

The
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...
(IJN) began using the Type-Number System in 1921 to designate aircraft accepted for production. The numbers used after the word "Type" were based on the number of years that the
Emperor Taishō was the 123rd Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and the second ruler of the Empire of Japan from 30 July 1912 until his death in 1926. The Emperor's personal name was . According to Japanese custom, while reigni ...
had reigned. Since his reign began in 1912, an aircraft ordered into production in 1921 would have been called "Type 10", the tenth year of the emperor's reign. At the end of 1926, the emperor died, leaving his son Hirohito as the Emperor Shōwa, and the numbering system was reset to mark the new emperor's reign. In 1929, the government of Japan adopted a new system based on the imperial year. Aircraft ordered for production from 1929 onward were assigned the last two digits of the year marking the continuity of Japanese emperors. 1929 was the 2589th imperial year, so aircraft ordered that year were designated "Type 89". 1940 was the 2600th year, and the IJN numbering system was reset to single digits. New aircraft were designated 0 (zero). The well-known Mitsubishi
A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was ...
was ordered into production in 1940 as the IJN "Type 0 Carrier Fighter" (''Rei shiki Kanjō sentōki'', 零式艦上戦闘機), and was popularly called the "Zero" because of its type. In 1943, the designation system was abandoned by the IJN as it was considered too revealing about the nature of the aircraft. In its place, the aircraft were named with popular terms such as ''Kyōfū'' (強風 "Strong Wind") for the
Kawanishi N1K The Kawanishi N1K ''Kyōfū'' (, "Strong Wind", Allied reporting name "Rex") is an Imperial Japanese Navy floatplane fighter. The Kawanishi N1K-J ''Shiden'' (, "Violet Lightning") was an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service land-based version o ...
introduced in 1943. The
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
(IJA) began using the Type designation system in 1927, for all weapons, vehicles, military equipment, subassemblies and subsystems such as engines and gunmounts. In 1940, instead of resetting to zero, the IJA assigned "Type 100" to equipment put into production that year. In 1941, the IJA reset to "Type 1". Unlike the IJN, the IJA continued to use the system through 1945 with the production of the
Kawasaki Ki-100 The Kawasaki Ki-100 (''キ100'') is a single-seat single-engine monoplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service during World War II. The Japanese Army designation was . It was not assigned an Allied code name. 275 Ki- ...
Army Type 5 Fighter. After 1945, Japan's military changed to a numbering system based on the Japanese fiscal year which begins on April 1 in the same manner as the British fiscal year. As an example, "Type 63" was the designation for equipment such as the Type 63 AT mine accepted in 1963. The
kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...
character ''shiki'' (式) is what the Japanese use to designate products in a series. The
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
translation of ''shiki'' has been variously given as "model" or "type". Some manuals and texts have translated ''shiki'' as both "model" and "type" within the same publication, confusing the matter.
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
-era military dictionaries do not give ''shiki'' as the Japanese word for "model"—instead, the kanji character ''kata'' is given. In turn, ''kata'' (型 or 形) is translated as "form", "type", "pattern", "mark", or "model". The only
Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...
translation given for the English word "type" is ''shiki''.


People's Republic of China

Chinese weapons and military vehicles are often, but not always, designated according to the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
, the one used by most nations. Two digits are used to designate the year. The two digits appear first, followed by the character ''shi'', meaning "type". As examples, in 1956, the
Type 56 assault rifle The Type 56 (; literally; "Assault Rifle, Model of 1956") is a Chinese 7.62×39mm rifle. It is a variant of the Soviet-designed AK-47 (specifically Type 3) and AKM rifles.Miller, David (2001). ''The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns''. ...
was put into production, and the
Type 64 pistol The Type 64 pistol () is a semi-automatic pistol, formerly in service with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) but has since been replaced by several other firearms, although it still remains in service with some Chinese police forces. The T ...
was designed and approved in 1964.


Republic of China (Taiwan)

The Republic of China military uses a type designation system for domestically produced small arms, light weapons, and gun based artillery. The designation of the weapon, instead of using the literal word "type", is marked with a "T" with a subsequent number corresponding to the Republic of China year (民國; ''Minguo'') the design was finalized or had its prototype completed. As an example, the domestic Type 65 assault rifle (65式步槍) is designated T65 and had its design finalized in 1976 (''Minguo'' year 65). The T75 squad automatic weapon, based on the
FN Minimi The FN Minimi (short for french: Mini Mitrailleuse; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm light machine gun/squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. First introduced in the late 1970s, it is now in service in more tha ...
, had its prototype completed in 1986 (''Minguo'' year 75) and designated as such; but was continuously improved and until the design was finalized in 1992. For weapons that are copied or produced under license, the ''Minguo'' year of which it is ready for production is used; as in the case of the T57, a copy of the
M14 rifle The M14 rifle, officially the United States Rifle, Caliber 7.62 mm, M14, is an American selective fire battle rifle chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO (.308 in) cartridge. It became the standard-issue rifle for the U.S. military in 1959, r ...
.


United Kingdom

The
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
uses a type number system where blocks of numbers are reserved for specific purposes. For instance, the block 900–999 was given to naval radar sets beginning in 1945 and continuing for roughly 20 years. Numbers are not always sequential, as the Type 992 target indication radar was developed long before the Type 967 target designation radar. When a reserved block has been fully utilized, another is assigned.Friedman, 1997, p. xli, "Prefatory Notes".


See also

*
Type system of the Royal Navy The Type system is a classification system used by the British Royal Navy to classify surface escorts by function. The system evolved in the early 1950s, when the Royal Navy was experimenting with building single-purpose escort vessels with specifi ...
*
Japanese military aircraft designation systems The Japanese military aircraft designation systems for the Imperial period (pre-1945) had multiple designation systems for each armed service. This led to the Allies' use of code names during World War II, and these code names are still better kno ...
*
Joint Electronics Type Designation System The Joint Electronics Type Designation System (JETDS), which was previously known as the Joint Army-Navy Nomenclature System (AN System. JAN) and the Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System, is a method developed by the U.S. War Depa ...
, U.S. military system *
Mark (designation) The word ''mark'', followed by number, is a method of designating a version of a product. It is often abbreviated as Mk or M. This use of the word possibly originates from the use of physical marks made to measure height or progress. Furthermore ...


References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography *Friedman, Norman. ''The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapons systems, 1997-1998''. Naval Institute Press, 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Type (Designation) Encodings Military science Technical terminology